wfru^ 

University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


LllRAff" 
SCHOOL 


MEMORIAL 


OF 


JOHN     ALLAN 


*•*  1 


MEMORIAL 


.<  0  H  N    ALLAN 


PRINTED  FOR  THE  BRADFORD  CLUB. 
XEW   VORK: 

1864. 


Entered  according  to  an  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1864, 
By  John  B.  Moreau, 

FOE    THE    BRADFORD     CLUB, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States 
for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


fc 


/ 


No. 


We  love  the  page  that  draws  its  flavour 

From  draftsman,  etcher  and  engraver. 

Ihe  Rev.  James  Beresford's  '•  Ribliosophia." 

Thus  our  time  may  we  pass  with  rare  books  and  rare  friends, 

Growing  wiser  and  better  till  life  itself  ends: 

And  may  those  who  delight  not  in  black  letter  lore, 

By  some  obsolete  act  be  sent  far  from  our  shore. 

"Rational  Madness."  A  Song  for  the  Lovers 
of  Curious  and  Rare  Books,  to  the  tune  of 
Liberty  Hall,  in  Mr.  Allan's  Collection. 


MEMORIAL 


The  following  memorial  has  been  prepared  in  com 
pliance  with  the  wishes  of  a  few  friends  of  the  late  Mr. 
Allan,  members  of  the  BRADFORD  CLUB,  who  de 
sire  to  preserve  some  record  of  his  amiable  personal 
qualities  and  of  the  refined  pursuits  by  which  he  was 
distinguished.  There  is  nothing,  indeed,  in  the  account 
of  his  life,  to  challenge  a  place  among  the  important 
biographies  of  these  stirring  times ;  and  no  effort  will 
here  be  made  to  place  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  by  any 
exaggeration,  in  a  position  abhorrent  to  his  unobtrusive 
character.  The  whole  story  is  simply  this.  He  was  a 
kind  hearted  man,  fond  of  literature  and  art ;  plain  in 
his  habits,  manly  in  his  opinions :  he  enjoyed  a  well 
deserved  reputation  for  probity  and  honor,  and  at  his 
death  left  a  valuable  collection  of  rare  books,  engrav 
ings  and  other  curiosities,  which  he  had  gathered  about 
him,  the  amusement  and  solace  of  a  long  life  and  an 
unfailing  resource  to  his  companions,  and  which,  as 
they  are  now  dispersed  and  have  become  the  ornaments 
of  many  private  libraries,  bear  witness  to  the  tastes  of 
2 


CASE 

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^\ 


4  MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN   ALLAN. 

their  late  owner,  and,  in  a  posthumous  way,  widen 
the  circle  of  his  acquaintance. 

John  Allan  was  born  in  the  parish  of  Kilburuie, 
Ayreshire,  Scotland,  on  the  26th  of  February,  1777.  His 
father  was  a  tenant  farmer  of  the  district,  and  the  family 
had  occupied  the  acres  from  which  he  gained  his  sub 
sistence  for  more  than  a  century.  They  preserved  the 
industry  and  virtues  which  have  ever  marked  the  bet 
ter  classes  of  the  Scottish  cultivators  of  the  soil ;  among 
which,  we  may  be  sure,  a  proper  attention  to  intellectual 
discipline  was  not  neglected.  John  Allan  reaped  the 
benefit  of  these  home  influences  in  the  promotion  of  a 
manly  character,  while  he  received  a  sound  elementary 
education,  including  instruction  in  Latin  at  a  neigh 
boring  grammar  school.  He  was  always  in  pursuit  of 
knowledge,  and  the  incident  is  remembered  in  his 
family  of  his  devoting  the  small  savings  from  his 
pocket  allowance,  his  "  sugar  money,"  in  his  child 
hood,  to  subscription  to  a  newspaper. 

Being  the  eldest  of  the  family,  he  was  naturally 
looked  to  for  assistance  in  the  work  on  the  farm ;  but 
for  this  species  of  toil,  and,  indeed,  for  hard  labor  of  any 
kind,  he  seems  to  have  had  no  great  inclination. 
When  any  unusual  effort  was  required  he  was  often 
out  of  the  way  ;  his  tastes  ran  in  a  different  direction  : 
a  book  was  in  his  boyhood  more  welcome  to  him  than 
the  plough,  and  he  was  already  looking  forward  to  a 
career  in  which  he  might  gain  his  livelihood  in  some 
less  exacting  vocation.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he 


MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN   ALLAN.  5 

formed  his  resolution  to  emigrate  to  America,  andj;ry 
his  fortune  in  thepTew  World.  After  some  opposition 
the  family  finding  his  determination  fixed  fell  in  with 
his  plans,  made  a  purse  for  his  benefit,  and  he  departed 
with  their  blessing.  On  his  arrival  at  New  York  there 
was  some  expectation  that  he  would  purchase  land  in 
the  interior  and  settle  upon  it ;  but  once  released  from 
the  thraldom  of  the  paternal  farm,  he  had  no  dispo 
sition  to  return  to  the  vocation.  He  speedily  found 
occupation  in  the  city  as  a  clerk,  or  bookkeeper,  and 
soon  acquired  such  a  reputation  for  industry  and  integ 
rity,  that  he  was  never  henceforth  without  lucrative 
employments  of  this  kind.  He  was  for  many  years 
bookkeeper  to  Messrs.  Rich  and  Disbrow,  merchant 
tailors  of  the  city,  who  were  largely  engaged  in  busi 
ness,  and  became  so  established  in  their  confidence 
that  he  was  left,  by  each  member  of  the  firm,  executor 
of  his  will.  He  survived  them  both,  and  long  dis 
charged  the  duties  thus  imposed  upon  him,  outliving 
every  one  of  the  Rich  family  and  two  generations  of 
the  Disbrows.  To  his  clerkships,  Mr.  Allan  at  one 
time  added  the  business  of  a  commission  agent,  re 
ceiving  various  consignments  from  his  friends  in  Scot 
land,  among  whom  was  Mr.  John  M.  Duncan,  a  Glas 
gow  publisher  and  author  of  two  volumes  of  Travels 
in  the  United  States,  who  sent  him  his  books  for  sale. 
Later  in  life,  Mr.  Allan  was  much  employed  as  a  house 
agent  or  collector  of  rents.  From  these  and  kindred 
sources,  aided  by  a  frugal  habit  of  living,  he  secured 
the  means  of  independent  living.  He  married  early 


6  MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN    ALLAN. 

in  life,  became  a  householder,  occupying  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century  a  house  in  Pearl  street  facing  Centre 
street,  the  site  of  which  is  now  part  of  the  public  street. 
From  Pearl  street  he  removed  about  the  year  1837  to 
a  commodious  house,  number  17  Vandewater  street, 
where  he  continued  to  reside,  spite  of  till  change  in  the 
neighborhood,  till  his  death.  His  acquaintances  who 
visited  him  in  his  last  years,  found  him  almost  the  only 
one  remaining  of  the  old  inhabitants  of  the  street, 
which  when  he  first  took  up  his  abode  there  numbered 
many  influential  citizens  of  the  time,  particularly 
among  the  Quaker  population  of  the  city.  The  street 
was  then  distinguished  by  its  neatness,  and,  the  lots 
being  deep,  there  were  many  pretty  gardens  with  fruit 
trees  in  the  vicinity,  so  that  the  locality  afforded,  al 
together,  an  agreeable  residence.  Of  late,  all  this  was 
entirely  changed ;  the  old  families  had  been  broken  up 
by  death  or  removed  to  make  way  for  the  march  of 
improvement,  the  first  fruits  of  which  were  the  clearing 
away  of  the  gardens  to  give  place  to  closely  built  fac 
tories  and  tenement  houses,  which  became  the  home 
of  a  squalid  population.  The  street  speedily  swarmed 
with  petty  groceries,  lager  beer  shops  and  other  ap 
pendages  of  a  poor  and  crowded  tenantry.  It  had 
become,  outwardly  viewed,  one  of  the  most  unpleasant 
parts  of  the  city  to  live  in.  Mr.  Allan's  friends  some 
times  expressed  their  wonder  to  him,  asking  why  he 
remained ;  to  which  he  would  reply  urging  the  force 
of  habit,  and  meeting  the  objection  to  the  street  with 
the  good  humored  remark,  that  "  he  lived  in  the  house 


MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN    ALLAN.  7 

— he  did  not  live  in  the  street."  The  house,  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  remark,  was  a  model  of  neatness  and 
cleanliness,  within  and  without.  Its  white  door  and 
polished  knocker  were  always  true  to  the  better  days 
of  the  neighborhood ;  while  the  visitor  on  his  entrance, 
was  struck  by  the  air  of  cheerfulness  which  the  quaint 
old  furniture,  the  rare  prints  on  the  walls,  »nd  the 
various  objects  of  interest  on  all  sides  inspired. 

A  first  view  of  all  these  things  was  doubtless  much 
more  impressive  by  contrast  with  the  vicinity.  Few 
of  those  who  made  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Allan  of 
late  years,  particularly  of  those  who  appreciated  his 
tastes,  will  forget  their  sensations  on  admission  to  his 
well  stocked  rooms,  filled  on  all  sides  with  curious  ob 
jects  of  interest,  the  attraction  of  which,  we  may  add, 
was  much  enhanced  by  the  hospitable  welcome  and 
sprightly  manners  of  the  possessor.  Many  will  recall 
the  simple  back  parlor,  the  usual  reception  room, 
the  time-seasoned  early  impressions  of  Wilkie's  best 
works  on  the  walls,  the  portrait  of  Burns,  and  hanging 
in  kindly  familiarity  over  the  mantel  the  pictures  of 
Thomas  Dowse,  of  Cambridge,  the  genuine  L.  L.  D., 
Learned  Leather  Dresser,  and  the  nonagenarian  An 
derson  the  wood  engraver,  oldest  of  the  companions 
of  Mr.  Allen,  who  has  survived  to  execute  the  cut  of 
his  friend  which  graces  the  title  page  of  his  sale  cata 
logue  Flanking  these  on  each  side  of  the  apartment, 
were  the  deeply  laden  book  cases,  holding  the  Dibdins, 
the  Knickerbockers,  the  Bartolozzis,  and  others  of 
those  choicely  illustrated  books  which  have  called  forth 


8  MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN    ALLAN. 

such  eager  competition  ;  while  a  series  of  drawers  were 
filled  with  the  old  watches  and  other  more  purely  anti 
quarian  curiosities  of  the  virtuoso's  collection.     Above 
stairs,',the  book  cases  with  their  valuable  contents  were 
repeated  with  the  addition  of  a  small  museum  of  highly 
polished  minerals — in  which  beauteous  marvels  of  na 
ture  the  owner  delighted — and  the  eye  of  the  visitor 
was  further  attracted  in  one   of   the  rooms  by  a  re 
markable  assemblage  quaintly  arranged  about  the  fire 
place,  of  strange  heathen  war  weapons,  in  which  sharp 
ened  Malay  creases,  Norman  battle  axes,  Indian  toma 
hawks,  carved  South  Sea  braining  clubs,  a  heavy  eagle- 
hilted  Roman  sword,  were  curiously  intermingled.     It 
was  the  sleeping  room  of  Mr.  Allan  ;  and  as  we  looked 
upon  the  display,  we  could  not  but  imagine  the  motley 
exhibition  disturbing  the  dreams  of  the  rash  collector — 
a  splendid  equipment,  indeed,  for  a  nightmare  in  which 
the  savage  combats  of  all  nations  might  be  blended. 
In  the  corner  of  the  room  stood  the  bright  musket 
which  Mr.  Allan,  already  become  an  American  citizen, 
had  shouldered  in  the  war  of  1812  when  in  the  days  of 
Governor  Tompkins  the  respectability  of  New  York 
was  summoned  to  work  in  the  trenches,  haply  at  that 
time  in  anticipation  only  of  a  foreign  enemy  who  never 
made  his  appearance.     These  warlike  associations  of 
the  room,  however,  were  tempered  by  the  presence  of 
the  choice  collection  of  books  of  Emblems  and  Missals, 
a  sacred  and  peaceful  host  appealing  to  the  devotional 
feeling  of  the  worshipper  of  the  antique,  which  graced 
the  secretary  by  the  window  in  the  sunniest  spot  in  the 


MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN    ALLAN.  9 

house.  In  this  room  thus  quaintly  garnished,  doubt 
less  many  of  our  friend's  happiest  hours  were  passed, 
and  here  at  length  the  silver  cord  was  loosened  and 
his  spirit  passed  away  from  earth. 

That  event,  which  happeneth  to  all,  came  gradually 
upon  him,  with  but  little  roughness  in  the  visit  of  the 
dreaded  Angel — as  cheerfully  regarded  by  him,  per 
haps,  as  by  any.  He  had  lived  too  long,  and  attended 
too  many  friends  to  the  grave,  to  be  unacquainted  with 
the  messenger  of  whose  coming  every  object  of  anti 
quity  around  him  was  an  eloquent  preacher.  We  re 
member  calling  upon  him  one  Sunday  afternoon,  and 
finding  him  with  a  rare  emblematic  volume  in  his 
hand,  one  of  the  numerous  books  which  he  possessed 
of  its  class,  Holbein's  old  workmanship,  perhaps — 
figuring  the  Dance  of  Death — as  sober  a  homily,  cer 
tainly,  as  was  listened  to  that  day  in  any  of  the  city 
churches.  The  lesson  was  habitually  before  him,  and 
contrary  to  the  remark  of  Dr.  Johnson,  who,  on  view 
ing  the  treasures  which  one  of  his  friends  had  gathered 
in  his  house,  said,  "  these  are  the  things  which  make  a 
death  bed  terrible,"  he  was  accustomed  to  speak  of  the 
future  disposition  of  his  books  with  equanimity,  with 
out  shuddering  at  the  thought.  Others  had  lived  and 
died  that  he  might  enjoy ;  he  must  not  grudge  posterity 
its  share  of  the  accumulating  benefit.  We  recall  once 
meeting  him  at  Mr.  Sabin's  auction  room  previous 
to  the  sale  of  the  extensive  library  of  the  late  Mr.  Bur 
ton,  the  actor,  and  mentioning  the  proverb,  "  Where 
soever  the  carcase  is,  there  will  the  eagles  be  gathered 


10  MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN    ALLAN. 

together."  The  familiar  saying  pleased  his  fancy,  and 
whenever  we  again  met  on  a  similar  occasion,  there 
was  some  allusion  to  "the  eagles." 

The  cheerful  old  age  of  Mr.  Allan,  indeed,  was  one 
of  the  most  noticeable  things  to  observe  in  him.  Of 
light  frame,  at  no  period  what  would  be  called  robust, 
he  was  yet  enabled  after  passing  through  a  single  dan 
gerous  illness — a  severe  attack  of  quinsy  sore  throat  in 
middle  life — to  experience  almost  uniutermitted  good 
health  during  his  long  career  of  fourscore  and  upwards. 
A  humorous  anecdote  is  remembered  of  this  illness, 
which  may  be  worth  repeating,  pleasantly  illustrating, 
as  it  does,  the  tastes  of  the  collector.  As  Mr.  Allan  was 
lying  speechless  on  his  bed  nearly  suffocated  by  his  ma 
lady,  the  female  attendants  in  the  room,  on  a  hint  from 
the  physician,  endeavored  to  rouse  him  to  some  strong 
emotion,  hoping  that  the  effort  would  break  the  perilous 
abscess  which  oppressed  his  breathing.  The  method 
which  they  took  was  characteristic  and  exhibited  a 
knowledge  of  the  ruling  passion  of  the  man.  "Well,  it's 
pretty  well  over  with  Mr.  Allan  now,"  said  one  of  his 
family ;  "  we  may  as  well  divide  his  books," — and  in  full 
sight  of  the  patient  one  began  to  take  down  one  choice 
volume,  a  second,  another,  disputing  affectedly  over  its 
appropriation,  looking  upon  this  as  an  effectual  irritant, 
the  owner  meanwhile  unable  to  speak,  shaking  his 
fist  in  defiance  of  what  reasonably  appeared  to  him 
an  extraordinarily  cool  proceeding.  Happily  the  lover 
of  books  on  whom  this  severe  experiment  was  tried, 
was  speedily  relieved  of  his  malady,  when  a  prompt 


MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN   ALLAN.  11 

word  of  explanation  set  at  rest  his  seemingly  well  war 
ranted  suspicions  of  his  friends. 

Mr.  Allan's  good  health  was  something  noticeable. 
A  junior  "  brother  collector"  at  one  time  thinking  his 
friend's  sands  were  well  nigh  run,  made  interest  to  gain 
possession,  at  his  death,  of  a  certain  volume  which  he 
coveted  in  his  library ;  but  Mr.  Allan  survived  his  eager 
acquaintance,  and  lived  on  quietly  enjoying  his  books 
many  years.  It  is  rare,  indeed,  to  find  a  man  of  his 
advanced  life  with  so  few  of  the  physical  infirmities  of 
age  upon  him.  His  freedom  of  motion  was  unimpaired 
to  the  end.  Within  a  short  time  of  his  death  he  might 
be  met  visiting  the  print  shops  in  Broadway,  on  foot, 
two  miles  from  his  home,  the  usual  limit  of  his  pil 
grimages,  for  he  was  a  devoted  New  Yorker,  seldom 
leaving  the  city  on  any  occasion.  A  cheerful  humor, 
with  an  unfailing  supply  of  nervous  energy,  enabled 
him  to  throw  off  care,  while  the  gentle  tastes  which 
he  indulged  as  an  amateur  of  the  arts,  with  their  inno 
cent  amusements,  and,  more  than  all,  the  society  of 
his  beloved  daughter,  after  the  death  of  his  wife  many 
years  since,  sole  companion  of  his  household,  by  whom 
every  want  was  anticipated  and  every  indulgence  sup 
plied,  undoubtedly  fed  the  sources  of  youthful  feeling 
which  seemed  never  to  desert  him.  The  visits  of  his 
friends  always  gave  him  pleasure.  A  call  from  the  late 
Dr.  Francis  or  from  Mr.  Gulian  C.  Verplanck,  whose 
writings  he  cherished,  was  remembered  by  him  with 
peculiar  satisfaction.  He  identified  them  with  Ameri 
can  history  and  literature,  for  which  he  had  acquired 


12  MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN   ALLAN. 

a  peculiar  fondness,  engrafting  the  study  upon  his  na 
tive  Scotticism.     Mr.  John  R.  Bartlett,  of  Providence, 
seldom  visited  New  York  without  finding  his  way  to 
Vandewater  street.  With  Dr.  Koecker  and  other  valued 
friends,  of  Philadelphia,  he  shared  with  Mr.  Allan  a 
fondness  for  his  pursuits,  in  which  they  mutually  assisted 
one  another.     Mr.  Livermore,  of  Cambridge,  was  his 
correspondent  and  occasional  visitor.     Of  New  York 
ers,  the  brothers  Moreau  stood  among  the  foremost  in 
his  regard.     The  friendship  was  of  long  standing  and 
cemented  by  many  kindly   offices.     They  were  con 
stantly  to  be  met  with  at  Mr.  Allan's  fireside.     Mr. 
James  Lawson,  his  fellow  countryman,  an  appreciator 
of  his  pursuits,  kept  alive  an  acquaintanceship  of  many 
years  to  the   end.     Mr.  Gowans,   the  publisher  and 
antiquarian  bookseller  of  Nassau  street,  was  an  old  and 
valued  intimate,  for  whose  judgment  Mr.    Allan  had 
great  respect. 

In  his  younger  days  Mr.  Allan  had  mingled  freely 
in  the  social  circles  of  his  countrymen,  and  had  taken 
an  active  part  in  their  public  festivities,  as  an  interest 
ing  series  of  cards  of  admission  to  the  annual  Caledo 
nian  balls,  engraved  with  various  devices  planned  by 
himself,  bears  witness.  The  cards  were  frequently  in 
scribed  with  mottoes,  from  old  Scottish  poets  and  other 
sources  appropriate  to  the  designs  which  exhibit  no 
little  variety  of  good  humor. 

One  incident,  pleasantly  varying  the  monotony  of 
Mr.  Allan's  quiet  career,  should  not  be  forgotten, — 
the  surprise  party  of  his  friends  who,  having  made 


MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN    ALLAN.  L6 

their  preparations  by  appointment,  dropped  in  upon 
him  at  his  home  the  evening  of  his  eightieth  birth  day, 
February  26,  1857.  A  valuable  scrap  book,  amply 
decorated,  which  the  receiver  soon  stored  with  speci 
mens  of  his  best  drawings  and  engravings,  remains  in 
the  possession  of  his  daughter,  an  interesting  memorial 
of  the  occasion.  One  of  its  opening  pages,  written  in 
Mr.  Allan's  careful  and  ornamental  hand  writing,  the 
excellence  of  which  age  had  little  diminished,  tells  the 
story  of  its  presentation, —  how  it  was  prepared  at  the 
expense  of  his  friends  and  delivered  by  Dr.  Koecker, 
"with  a  suitable  speech,"  while  on  the  same  evening, 
"  I  was  presented  by  F.  J.  Dreer,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia, 
with  an  elegant  gold  stud,  faced  with  a  small  portion  of 
the  bell  that  first  pealed  the  '  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence'  on  the  memorable  Fourth  of  July,  1776  ;  and  by 
E.  J.  Woolsey,  of  Astoria,  with  a  medal  of  myself  pre 
pared  by  him  expressly  for  the  occasion."  At  the  re 
quest  of  Mr.  Allan,  the  page  on  which  this  was  re 
corded  was  signed  by  his  friendly  visitors,  several  of 
whom,  younger  men,  preceded  him  to  the  grave.  The 
signatures  are  Leonard  R.  Koecker,  Fred.  J.  Dreer, 
Joseph  Moreau,  John  B.  Moreau,  Charles  C.  Moreau, 
John  Wiley,  Benson  J.  Lossing,  J.  S.  Phillips,  P. 
Hastie,  Wm.  J.  Davis,  Win.  Menzies,  E.  J.  Woolsey, 
Geo.  P.  Putnam. 

Mr.  Allan's  fondness  for  his  young  visitors,  was  a 
kindly  trait  of  his  character.  Nothing  gave  him  more 
pleasure  than  to  enlist  them  in  his  pursuits  ;  for  which 
there  was  often  sufficient  attraction  in  the  interesting 


14  MEMORIAL  OF  JOHN   ALLAN. 

nature  of  the  things  which  employed  his  attention. 
For  Mr.  Allan,  as  the  reader  has  observed,  was  no  mere 
morose  student  of  black  letter,  but  a  genial  lover  of 
the  arts,  who  delighted  to  assemble  objects  of  the 
beautiful  around  him.  Nor  only  so,  but  to  an  appre- 
ciator  of  his  tastes  he  was  a  liberal  dispenser  of  his 
treasures.  Thus  he  would  encourage  one  in  the  study 
of  the  natural  world  by  gifts  of  rare  and  valuable  spe 
cimens  of  minerals,  from  his  attractive  stock ;  while  he 
was  ever  ready  to  strip  certain  huge  scrap  books  —  re 
positories  of  out  of  the  way  prints  —  for  the  benefit  of 
youthful  amateurs  whom  he  had  taught  the  simple 
mysteries  of  inlaying  —  eagerly  conferring  upon  them 
portraits  and  landscapes,  unattainable  at  Dexter' s,  and 
encouraging  their  labors  in  the  pleasing  art  of  "illus 
tration."  One  of  the  most  skillful  adepts  in  this  craft, 
Mr.  Charles  C.  Moreau,  recalls  this  friendly  service  of 
Mr.  Allan,  as  he  turns  over  the  leaves  of  his  choicely 
illustrated  "Halleck;"  the  writer  of  this  sketch  also 
gratefully  cherishes  sundry  free  will  offerings,  effi 
gies  of  authors  of  by-gone  centuries,  contributions  to 
his  "  Pursuits  of  Literature ;"  and  others,  glancing  at 
their  portfolios,  might  doubtless  render  a  similar  ac 
knowledgment.  A  son  of  one  of  Mr.  Allan's  most 
esteemed  friends,  Mr.  Menzies,  points  with  pride  to 
the  collection  of  minerals  which  he  was  led  to  form 
by  his  visits  to  Vandewater  street. 

By  such  influences  as  these  we  have  enumerated,  life 
was  prolonged  beyond  the  natural  limit.  They  gave  an 
object  to  existence  which  old  men,  retired  from  active 


MEMORIAL  OF   JOHN   ALLAN.  15 

pursuits,  often  need,  and  sometimes  sink  earlier  for  the 
want  of.  When  death  came,  it  was  a  gradual  failing, 
during  a  few  weeks  confinement  to  his  house,  of  the 
vital  powers  of  the  body  which  left  the  mind  clear  and 
vigorous  to  the  end.  He  gave  minute  directions  con 
cerning  the  disposition  of  his  affairs  and  the  sale  of  his 
library,  for  the  benefit  of  his  only  surviving  child,  Mrs. 
Stewart,  whom  he  had  appointed  sole  executrix  of  his 
estate.  With  an  interest  characteristic  of  a  genuine 
collector,  he  particularly  enjoined  that  a  large  paper 
catalogue  of  his  library  should  be  printed.  Nothing 
would  seem  to  have  been  neglected  by  him.  His 
death  occurred  on  the  19th  of  November,  1863,  in  the 
eighty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  The  funeral  services 
were  performed  at  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  church,  by  his 
friend  the  Rev.  Dr.  Morgan  Dix,  when  the  remains 
were  interred  at  Greenwood. 

The  true  monument  of  an  antiquarian  is  the  cata 
logue  of  his  collections.  On  its  title  page  might  be 
placed  for  a  motto  a  parody  of  the  famous  inscription 
written  on  the  tombstone  of  the  licentiate  Pedro  Gar- 
cias,  as  narrated  by  Le  Sage  in  his  model  preface  to 
Gil  Bias.  As  that  famous  legend  recorded  that  the 
soul  of  Pedro  was  buried  beneath,  so  we  may  write  — 
Here  lies  the  soul  of  the  departed  virtuoso  ;  and  as  the  cun 
ning  student  of  Salamanca  was  led  to  explore  the 
grave,  and  was  rewarded  for  his  pains  by  finding  the 
purse  of  the  deceased  licentiate,  so  one  may  not  go 
much  amiss,  nor  altogether  lose  his  labor,  by  searching 


16  MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN    ALLAN. 

among  his  books  and  curiosities  for  the  passions  of  the 
collector.  He  will  be  sure  to  find  there  no  little  of  the 
man.  In  the  perusal  of  these  volumes  and  handling 
these  valuable  relics,  we  may  be  confident,  much  of 
his  time  was  passed — that  precious  portion  which  after 
the  ordinary  duties  of  life  and  the  business  of  the  world 
were  discharged,  he  might  more  peculiarly  call  his 
own.  Collectors  are  a  self-pleasing  race,  and  their 
happiness  is  in  their  cabinets  and  libraries.  As  other 
men  take  delight  in  their  horses,  their  model  farm, 
or  other  form  of  more  or  less  liberal  recreation,  so  he 
rejoiceth  with  a  black  letter  page  open  before  him,  in 
the  rarity  of  a  coin,  or  a  splendid  impression  of  an 
early  engraving.  The  taste  is  more  engrossing  than 
that  for  many  other  hobbies,  since  it  can  be  more 
steadily  gratified.  It  is  good  for  all  weathers,  and  is, 
in  fact,  never  out  of  season.  If  not  necessarily  a  virtue 
in  itself,  it  is  closely  allied  to  one.  The  amateur,  we 
are  aware,  does  not  always  read  the  books  or  profit  by 
the  treasures  which  he  collects,  but  if  he  lose  the  be 
nefit  himself,  he  not  unfrequently  guards  and  preserves 
what  others  may  enjoy — and  so  entitles  himself  to  the 
credit  of  a  helper  to  the  race.  But  it  is  not  likely  that 
great  collections  are  often  made  without  profit  to  the 
owne  r  ;  since  the  acquisition  requires  the  cultivation 
of  taste,  drscrimination  and  perseverance  ;  and,  lavish 
of  expense  in  one  direction,  demands  self-denial  in 
others.  Collectors  are  generally  temperate  and  frugal, 
and  their  employments,  upon  the  whole,  are  of  a  ra 
tional  cast.  Ridicule  will,  of  course,  be  heaped  upon 


MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN   ALLAN.  17 

the  fraternity.  Men  who  ride  hobbies  must  expect  to 
be  laughed  at  by  people  whose  hobbies  are  of  a  dif 
ferent  color;  yet,  seeing  what  enemies  to  a  man's 
peace  there  are  in  the  world,  it  is  perhaps  wise  to  che 
rish  a  self-pleasing  delusion  of  some  kind  or  other,  and 
well  would  it  be  for  the  world  if  this, was  always  as 
innocent  as  that  which  leads  in  the  direction  of  litera 
ture  and  art.  A  plea  may  be  put  in  even  for  the  "  Il 
lustrator," —  a  weakness  of  comparatively  recent  in 
vention.  Everybody  remembers  the  will  of  the  vir 
tuoso  Mcholas  Grimcrack  in  the  Tatler,  in  which  that 
eccentric  testator,  much  to  their  mortification,  be 
queaths  his  extraordinary  rarities  to  his  kinsmen.  But 
among  them  all,  his  mummies,  crocodile's  eggs,  and 
last  year's  collection  of  grasshoppers,  et  cetera,  there 
is  nothing  which  has  anything  to  do  with  books  and 
engravings.  The  genius  of  "Illustration"  had  not 
then  dawned  upon  the  world.  Few  of  the  strokes  of 
humor  of  the  old  satirists  would  have  hit  our  friend 
John  Allan,  unless  perchance  in  a  suspicious  number 
of  snuff  boxes  which  he  possessed  —  a  weakness,  by 
the  way,  which  he  shared  with  no  less  a  personage 
than  Frederick  the  Great,  and  an  alarming  number  of 
old  watches ;  but  these  were  nothing  to  his  leading 
passion  for  "Illustration." 

As  for  the  snuff  boxes,  a  person  unacquainted  with 
the  peculiar  disposition  of  antiquarians,  might  suppose, 
at  the  sight  of  a  hundred  of  these  articles,  and  the 
goodly  array  of  punch  ladles  alongside  of  them  — 
among  which  was  one  especially  provocative  of  con- 


18  MEMORIAL  OF  JOHN  ALLAN. 

viviality,  if,  as  alleged,  it  once  belonged  to  Robert 
Burns;  one  might,  we  say,  at  the  sight  of  these 
things,  readily  imagine  that  the  owner  of  all  this  in 
flammatory  apparatus  was  an  inveterate  snufftaker,  and 
a  jolly  companion  over  his  cups.  Quite  the  contrary 
was  the  case.  Mr.  Allan  indulged,  if  this  is  a  true 
expression  for  such  an  affliction,  in  the  use  of  tobacco 
in  no  form ;  while,  without  any  pretensions  to  absti 
nence,  few  men  in  the  country  could  say  that  during 
so  long  a  life,  including,  too,  the  good  old  hard  drinking 
era,  they  had,  in  a  slang  phrase  of  our  times,  "  pu 
nished"  so  little  liquor.  Looking  at  the  habits  of  the 
man,  one  might  regard  his  passion  for  the  acquisition 
of  snuff  boxes  in  the  light  of  a  raid  upon  the  enemy, 
or  a  species  of  confiscation  with  a  view  to  the  public 
good,  or,  perhaps,  rather  a  desire  to  preserve  a  curious 
memorial  of  a  barbarism  of  the  past,  as  thumb  screws, 
iron  boots  of  the  Inquisition,  and  slave  shackles,  are 
treasured  up  in  public  museums.  Yet  a  more  agreea 
ble  view  of  the  matter  might  be  taken,  contemplating 
the  snuff  boxes  as  emblems  of  the  graceful  personal 
attentions  of  gentlemen  of  the  old  school,  opening  the 
way  to  many  pleasant  acquaintanceships  ;  and  the  la 
dles  not  as  dispensers  of  remorse  in  the  potent  material 
fiery  liquid  of  unseemly  debaucheries,  but  of  the  in 
tellectual  aroma  of  the  banquet,  the  kindling  fancies, 
the  play  of  wit,  the  vivid  heart  utterances  which  Bac 
chus  is  supposed  to  engender. 

The  origin  of  the  mania  of  "Illustration,"  is  traced 
to  the  publication  of  the  Rev.  James  Granger's  Biog- 


MEMORIAL  OF  JOHN  ALLAN.          19 

raphical  History  of  England,  arranged  for  the  insertion 
of  portraits  in  the  latter  portion  of  the  last  century. 
The  plan  which  he  threw  out  was  accepted  ;  a  new 
pleasure  was  invented  for  collectors,  and  they  eagerly 
availed  themselves  of  it.     Rare  volumes  of  all  sorts 
were  ransacked  and  plundered  to  furnish  th  e  coveted 
portraits — a  spoliation  thus  alluded  to  by  Ireland  in 
his  satiric  poem,  "  Chalcographimania  :" — 
Granger — whose  biographic  page, 
Hath  prov'd  for  years  so  much  the  rage  ; 
That  scarce  one  book  its  portrait  graces, 
Torn  out,  alas  !  each  author's  face  is. 

And  more  wittily  by  the  learned  Dr.  Ferriar,  detector 
of  the  plagiarisms  of  Sterne,  in  a  poetical  Epistle  to 
Richard  Heber,  the  famed  book  collector:  — 
"  Now  warn'd  by  Oxford  and  by  Granger  school'd, 
In  paper-books,  superbly  gilt  and  tool'd, 
He  pastes,  from  injur'd  volumes  snipt  away, 
His  English  Heads,  in  chronicled  array. 
Torn  from  their  destin'd  page,  (unworthy  meed 
Of  knightly  counsel  and  heroic  deed), 
Not  Faithorne's  stroke,  nor  Field's  own  types  can  save 
The  gallant  Veres,  and  one-eyed  Ogle  brave. 
Indignant  readers  seek  the  image  fled, 
And  curse  the  busy  fool,  who  wants  a  head." 
Dibdin,  in  his  "  Bibliomania,"  has  in  a  few  words  hit 
off  the  passion  with  a  saving  clause  for  its  rational  in 
dulgence.     "  If  judiciously  treated,"  says  he,   "illus 
trating  is  of  all  the  symptoms  the  least  liable  to  mis 
chief.     To  possess  a  series  of  well  executed  portraits 


20  MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN    ALLAN. 

of  illustrious  men,  at  different  periods  of  their  lives, 
from  blooming  boyhood  to  phlegmatic  old  age,  is  suf 
ficiently  amusing ;  but  to  possess  every  portrait,  bad, 
indifferent  and  unlike,  betrays  such  a  dangerous  and 
alarming  symptom  as  to  render  the  case  almost  incur 
able. 

There  have  been  some  other  very  clever  satires  on 
the  folly.  The  Rev.  James  Beresford,  the  author  of 
that  amusing  book,  "  The  Miseries  of  Human  Life," 
in  an  essay  entitled  "  Bibliosophia,"  elicited  by  Dibdin's 
publication  just  mentioned,  thus  pictures  the  Genius 
of  Illustration  :  "  Here  the  type-fount  and  the  copper 
plate  are  beheld  in  a  constant,  though  amicable  contest. 
Page  and  plate — page  and  plate — page  and  plate,  keep 
on  together  in  wedded  harmony  ("  concordia  dis- 
cors"),  through  a  lengthening  career  of  delight.  *  * 
Let  the  historian  but  obliquely  allude  to  a  long-for 
gotten  name, —  and,  with  stupendous  alacrity,  the 
POWER  OF  ILLUSTRATIO;S?  has  dragged  the  world  of  curi 
osity  for  every  effigy,  genuine  or  spurious,  by  every  gra 
ver,  of  every  age,  from  every  country,  in  every  degree 
of  excellence,  and  in  every  stage  of  preservation,  down 
to  the  last  dregs  of  ruin  : — lo  triumphe  ! —  there  they  are, 
and  in  they  shoal  upon  the  groaning,  bursting  volume  ! 
— Let  the  writer  but  have  innocently  hinted  that  his 
hero  or  his  hero's  cousin,  had  a  house  to  live  in, — 
and,  while  the  press  is  working  the  intelligence,  re 
presentation  upon  representation  of  the  last  rafter  of 
every  dwelling,  suspected  to  have  been  once  visited  by 
either,  is  ready  to  push  into  its  place! — Did  an  illus- 


MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN    ALLAN.  21 

trious  (and  accordingly  illustrated)  personage,  ever  sit 
down  ?  —  there  is  his  chair, —  or,  at  least,  a  leg  of  it. 
Did  he  ever  write  ? —  There  are  his  pot  hooks  and  hang 
ers. — Did  he  like  a  late  venerable  Prelate,  occasionally 
relax  from  "  the  toils  of  study,  by  watching  the  drol 
leries  of  his  kitten  ? — There  is  Puss  ?" 

Mr.  Allan  was  fond  of  these  satires  upon  his  favorite 
amusement ;  the  passages  we  have  cited  being  all  taken 
from  valued  books  in  his  collection.  He  would  laugh 
with  the  wits  at  the  folly,  shrug  his  shoulders  at  the 
expense — and  go  on  collecting,  delighted  to  the  end. 
He  cultivated  one  capital  preservative  against  re 
proach  ; — he  paid  on  the  instant,  kept  no  bills,  and  ne 
ver  remembered  the  cost.  Sometimes  he  had  his  doubts 
and  compunctions,  and  would  tell  his  friend  the  im 
porter  John  Wiley,  that  "  he  had  taken  the  pledge," 
and  would  order  no  more  books  from  Europe  ;  but  as 
with  most  teetotalers  his  self-denying  resolutions  were 
badly  kept.  A  tempting  catalogue  would  again  per 
suade  him  ;  and  new  purchases  kept  coming  in  to  the 
last.  A  rare  copy  of  Wither's  Poems  was  on  its  way 
to  him  when  he  died. 

The  satires  we  have  quoted  exhibit  the  perversions  of  a 
pursuit  which,  kept  within  its  proper  limits,  has  its  com 
mendable  uses.  It  very  readily  runs  into  abuse,  indeed, 
and  its  fair  opportunities  are  narrowly  circumscribed. 
But  much  good  may  be  done  by  a  judicious  illustrator 
who  in  his  legitimate  sphere  maybe  regarded  as  a  pic 
torial  annotator.  Thus  a  correct  and  well  engraved 
portrait  is  always  desirable,  when  the  subject  is  of  suf- 


22          MEMORIAL  OF  JOHN  ALLAN. 

ficient  importance  in  the  text  to  excite  a  rational  curi 
osity.  The  mere  circumstance  of  a  name  being  men 
tioned  there  is  not  enough  ;  it  should  be  in  some  sub 
stantial  connection  with  the  book.  If  the  subject  of 
the  page,  for  instance,  be  Dr.  Johnson,  in  a  volume  of 
literary  biographies,  a  good  engraving  from  the  por 
traits  by  Reynolds,  or  Opie,  or  Barry,  will  be  welcome ; 
but  if  the  learned  Doctor  chance  to  indulge  in  a  quo 
tation  from  Horace  or  Lucretius,  it  is  simply  an  im 
pertinence,  for  no  better  reason,  to  intrude  real  or  pre 
tended  representations  of  those  classic  worthies.  Yet 
absurdities  of  this  kind  are  often  practised  to  the  det 
riment  of  otherwise  well  prefaced  volumes.  Historical 
works  and  books  of  memoirs  admit  of  liberal  portrait 
illustration.  It  is  an  offence  in  a  publisher  to  issue  a 
biography  without  a  portrait  of  the  subject,  where  one 
can  be  obtained.  If  good  pictures  of  the  scenery 
amidst  which  he  grew  up  and  by  which  his  character 
was  influenced,  can  be  added,  these  too  are  highly  de 
sirable.  Only  let  them  be  like  good  notes,  really  va 
luable  aids  to  the  text,  and  they  will  hardly  be  super 
fluous,  unless  the  book  be  overloaded  with  them.  Be 
yond  a  certain  number,  it  is  better  that  they  should  be 
classified  and  arranged  by  themselves  as  collections  of 
engravings.  As  for  stripping  good  books  of  these  plates 
to  decorate  others,  it  deserves  the  censure  of  the  sa 
tirist  ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  as  an  offset,  the  "  illus 
trators"  are  entitled  to  the  credit  of  rescuing  many 
engravings  from  volumes  and  magazines  destined  to 
perish  ;  and  they  have  stimulated  publishers  to  issue 


MEMORIAL   OP   JOHN    ALLAN.  23 

new  plates  for  the  express  purpose  of  supplying  the 
wants  of  the  collector.  Upon  the  whole,  literature  has 
probably  gained  more  than  it  has  lost  by  the  mania. 
American  history,  the  chosen  field  of  book  illustration, 
by  our  countrymen,  has  certainly  profited.  Thousands 
of  valuable  engravings  have  been  sought  out  and  pre 
served  from  oblivion  by  transfer  from  their  raffled 

*  oo 

homes,  in  old  decaying  magazines  and  broken  vo 
lumes,  to  the  luxurious  quarters  of  large  paper  editions, 
where  purified  from  the  stains  of  time  and  extended  by 
Trent,  they  enjoy  in  their  age  a  glory  unknown  to  their 
youth.  The  story  of  the  American  Revolution  and  the 
memory  of  Washington  jn  particular,  already  owe 
much  to  the  zeal  of  the  illustrators,  as  the  most  in 
credulous  may  be  convinced  by  glancing  at  such  vo 
lumes  as  those  of  Sparks  and  Irving,  in  the  possession 
of  Mr.  John  B.  Moreau — prepared  by  him  with  nice 
tact  and  discrimination,  consummate  nicety  of  work 
manship,  and  every  way  by  map,  portrait,  and  other 
engravings,  a  welcome  aid  to  the  historical  enquirer,  as 
well  as  a  pleasure  in  the  perusal,  to  the  man  of  taste. 
What  has  been  thus  done  for  Washington,  in  this  and 
other  instances,  is  being  extended  to  the  other  fathers 
of  the  state.  The  labors  of  the  engraver  are  in  de 
mand  for  the  purpose,  and  photography — as  it  ad 
vances  as  an  art,  is  rapidly  gaining  ground  with  the 
"  illustrators,"  who  have  hitherto  handled  it  rather 
shyly,  fearful  of  the  durability  of  its  pictures.  Its  ready 
resources,  in  reproducing  rare  prints,  and  reducing  and 


24          MEMORIAL  OF  JOHN  ALLAN. 

copying  old  family  pictures,  cannot  fail  to  be  appre 
ciated. 

Mr.  Allan's  taste  for  the  preservation  of  scrap  books 
of  engravings  is  said  to  have  been  developed  at  an  early 
age,  when  he  laid  the  fireside  almanac  under  contri 
bution  ;  boys  are  apt  thus  to  mutilate  books,  but  he 
knew  how  to  preserve  them  as  well.  The  first  impulse 
of  a  decided  character  which  led  him  to  book  illus 
tration,  came  with  his  correspondence  with  the  eminent 
London  print  seller,  Evans,  some  thirty  years  since. 
He  wished  to  obtain  some  amusing  sporting  prints  for 
the  recreation  of  his  children,  and  requested  a  friend 
in  London  to  procure  them.  The  order  was  placed  in 
the  hands  of  Colnaghi,  who  executed  it  on  the  most 
liberal  scale,  with  a  supply  of  hunting  scenes  from  the 
Scottish  Highlands  to  India — with  a  bill  of  propor 
tional  extent.  This  was  beyond  the  purchaser's  wants. 
He  resold  many  of  the  plates  in  ~New  York,  and  sent 
out  a  particular  description  of  what  he  required.  The 
new  order  was  handed  to  Mr.  Evans,  and  judiciously 
filled,  and  the  correspondence  resulted  in  opening  a 
channel  for  the  supply  of  prints  for  illustration,  an 
object  which  Mr.  Allan  thenceforth  pursued  with  avi 
dity.  Many  of  the  best  works  of  this  class,  which  he 
came  to  possess,  as  a  valuable  copy  of  Burns'  Poems, 
a  folio  of  portraits  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  with  scenes 
illustrating  her  career,  Ireland's  Calcographimania,  and 
others,  were  prepared  for  him  by  Evans,  and  afforded 
an  excellent  model  for  his  own  labors — for  labors  they 
were,  though  coupled  with  amusement,  in  which  he 


MEMORIAL  OF  JOHN  ALLAN.         25 

found  himself  engaged.  It  would  be  curious  to  calcu 
late  the  number  of  hours,  many  of  them  gained  from 
sleep  by  his  habit  of  early  rising,  spent  by  Mr.  Allan 
in  carefully  extending  octavo  pages  to  quarto,  and 
seeking  for  and  inserting  portraits  and  scenes  alluded 
to  in  the  text.  Some  hundred  volumes,  which  found 
liberal  purchasers  at  the  sale,  were  thus  literally  manu 
factured  by  him.  He  was  a  pioneer  in  this  conntry  in 
the  pursuit,  the  foremost  in  point  of  time  of  the  Ame 
rican  illustrators. 

Among  the  most  curious  and  entertaining  of  his 
illustrated  books,  perhaps  the  best  generally  known  in 
his  collection  and  the  first  enquired  for  by  visitors, 
were  the  volumes  of  Knickerbocker's  History  of  New 
York.  For  this  veritable  chronicle  he  had  a  particular 
regard.  Its  humor,  broad  fun  and  rollicking  gayety, 
were  quite  to  his  taste ;  and  he  eagerly  seized  upon  the 
work  as  an  appropriate  vehicle  for  the  display  of  the 
numerous  curious  and  valuable  Dutch  prints  with 
which  his  scrap  books  and  portfolios  always  abounded. 
With  a  stock  of  engravings  from  the  paintings  of 
Teniers,  Ostade,  and  other  hearty  old  artists,  from 
whom,  it  may  be  supposed,  the  author  himself  had 
drawn  no  little  of  his  humorous  inspiration,  it  was  not 
a  difficult  nor  altogether  an  inappropriate  task  to  "  il 
lustrate"  the  pages  of  the  venerable  Diedrich,  which, 
to  meet  the  emergency,  were  inlaid  and  extended  from 
the  modest  duodecimo  of  the  original  edition  to  the 
liberal  margin  of  a  small  folio  or  quarto.  The  feastings 
and  revelry,  the  St.  Nicholas  festivities,  and  other 


26  MEMORIAL  OF  JOHN   ALLAN. 

quaint  pictures  of  manners  of  the  old  Dutch  masters, 
were  indeed  singularly  in  harmony  with  the  work ; 
while  to  facilitate  the  undertaking,  a  number  of  in 
teresting  engravings  had  been  lately  published  in 
London  to  accompany  the  book,  from  the  pencils  of 
those  admirable  artists  Leslie  and  Washington  Alls- 
ton,  who  were  stimulated  by  friendship  to  lend  their 
best  powers  to  the  undertaking.  George  Cruikshank 
also  made  it  the  subject  of  some  of  his  earlier  and  best 
etchings.  Beside  these  obvious  and  more  appropriate 
illustrations,  Mr.  Allan,  doubtless  encouraged  by  the 
liberties  taken  by  the  author  with  the  old  New  York 
families,  with  the  zeal  of  a  genuine  "  illustrator,"  did 
not  hesitate  to  press  any  odd  engraving  into  the  service 
which  might  raise  an  additional  laugh  at  the  expense 
of  the  already  over  ridiculed  Knickerbockers.  These 
he  occasionally  inscribed  with  comments  of  his  own, 
neatly  underwritten  ;  for  example,  accompanying  an 
excruciating  picture  of  some  barber's  surgical  operation 
in  the  agonies  of  which  the  Dutch  school  delighted, 
with  this  description  : — "Dr.  Onderdonkperformingan 
operation  over  the  left  eye  of  Mynheer  Van  Der  Spie 
gel,  occasioned  by  an  accident  when  catching  shad  oft' 
the  Fort  in  company  with  Jacobus  Van  Tassel,  Garret 
Van  Bummell  and  Anthony  Van  Winkle." 

Another  of  these  engravings  by  Visscher,  in  one  of 
the  larger  volumes  picturing  an  untrussed  burgher 
held  down  by  three  dames  who  are  vigorously  admin 
istering  blows  with  palm  and  ferula,  is  inscribed, 
"  The  mode  of  punishing  a  drunken,  unruly  husband, 


MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN   ALLAN.  27 

practiced  by  the  ladies  of  New  Amsterdam  in  the  days 
of  Wouter  Van  Twiller."  A  stout,  one-legged  hero, 
evidently  a  Chelsea  pensioner,  does  duty  for  Peter 
Stuyvesant ;  an  exaggerated  figure  of  Punch,  right  leg 
extended,  with  his  customary  prominence  of  nose,  is 
labelled,  "  Mynheer  Beekman :"  while,  on  looking  over 
one  of  the  volumes,  we  found  a  well  known  engrav 
ing  of  our  portly  old  friend  Dr.  Parr,  smoking  his 
pipe  as  usual  with  his  plethora  of  self-conceit,  intro 
duced  as  "  Mynheer  Hardenbroeck  become  wealthy 
and  powerful." 

It  was  an  odd  amusement,  this  fantastic  effort  of  Mr. 

Allan,  to  ridicule  the  ridiculous; abroad  joke,  of 

course — the  very  riot  of  an  "  illustrator."  He  un 
doubtedly  "slaughtered"  a  great  many  choice  prints  in 
the  operation,  for  it  was  necessary  to  disguise  them  by 
cutting  off  titles  and  occasionally  to  meet  the  exi 
gencies  of  the  page,  the  names  of  artist  and  engraver, 
—  a  malpractice  of  which  so  earnest  an  appreciator  of 
the  art  should  not  have  been  guilty  ;  but "  illustrators," 
as  we  have  intimated,  do  not  stick  at  trifles. 

In  many  of  those  books  so  comprehensively  described 
by  Charles  Lamb  as  those  which  no  "  gentleman's 
library  should  be  without" — the  standard  publications 
of  the  Trade, — Mr.  Allan's  library  was,  no  doubt, 
deficient, — though  it  was  not  ill  supplied  with  works 
of  sound  literature.  Thus,  for  instance,  we  find  Locke 
and  Hume,  the  latter  of  whom  Mr.  Allan  was  too  good 
a  Scotchman  to  neglect,  with  a  noticeable  absence  of 
Gibbon,  of  whose  writings  the  catalogue  of  his  library 
5 


28  MEMORIAL   OF    JOHN   ALLAN. 

does  not  furnish  a  single  item.    The  English  poets  are, 
in  general,  tolerably  well  represented,  with  a  falling 
off,  at  the  end,  in  the  omission  of  Wordsworth  and 
Tennyson.     But  ample  amends  for  any  neglect  of  this 
kind  was  made  in  his  collection  of  rare  editions  of  the 
old  English  poets  of  the  seventeenth  century.     The 
miscellaneous  volumes  of  biography,  memoirs,  pictures 
of  manners,  exhibit  a  good  taste  in  reading.    "Works 
relating  to  Scotland,  and  especially  to  Burns  and  Ayr 
shire,  were,  as  might  be  expected,   numerous.     It  is, 
however,  in  the  light  of  the  special  collection  of  a  vir 
tuoso  and  amateur  of  the  fine  arts,  that  the  library  is 
to  be  regarded.   For  the  ordinary  standard  books  never 
out  of  print,  Mr.  Allan  could  go  to  the  Society  Library, 
of  which  he  was  a  member ;  what  he  prided  himself 
upon  was  the  possession  of  out  of  the  way  works  rarely 
to  be  met  with.     It  was  this  which  gave  a  peculiar 
value  to  his  collection,  and  invested  his  house  with  such 
an  interest,  that  admission  to  it  was  esteemed  a  privi 
lege  by  cultivated  students.    It  was  a  rare  treat  to  those 
fortunate  enough  to  possess  his  acquaintance  to  be  re 
ceived  and  introduced  by  him  to  the  treasures  of  his 
shelves,  uniting  the  charms  of  literature  and  art,  which 
were  freely  laid  open  to  his  friends  with  genial  alacrity. 
It  is  the  occasional  failing  or  vice  of  collectors  to  be 
selfish  and  unsocial  and  display  a  miserly  jealousy  in 
the  care  of  their  possessions  ;  but  there  was  nothing  of 
this  reserve  or  churlishness  about  Mr.  Allan.     He  was 
ever  ready  to  exhibit  his  stores  and  allow  others  to 
profit  by  them  ;  he  would  willingly  explain  their  value, 


MEMORIAL  OF  JOHN  ALLAN.          29 

and  permit  notes  to  be  made  of  his  books,  which  is 
certainly  all  that  should  be  asked.  He  would  even,  on 
occasion,  lend  a  volume  ;  but  this,  as  it  was  in  general 
contrary  to  good  manners  to  insist  upon,  was  opposed 
to  his  settled  principles  to  grant.  His  private  opinion 
on  this  subject  may  be  readily  understood  by  the  pe 
rusal  of  the  following  card,  found  among  his  papers, 
which,  for  the  benefit  of  all  possessors  of  valuable 
libraries,  we  here  present  in  fac  simile. 


</ 


The  neat  and  somewhat  formal  penmanship  of  this 
card  will  not  fail  to  be  remarked.  It  is  an  accomplish 
ment  seldom  cultivated  in  these  days  to  any  great  extent, 
but  one  in  acquiring  which  Mr.  Allan  had  taken  much 
pains.  In  the  index  to  the  catalogue  of  his  library,  Mr. 
Sabin  refers  to  twenty-seven  works  bearing  more  or 
less  directly  on  penmanship,  among  them  numerous 
copy  books  with  round  text  and  various  flourishes  of 
the  old  masters  of  the  art. 


30  MEMORIAL  OF   JOHN   ALLAN. 

In  matters  relating  to  the  Fine  Arts,  Mr.  Allan's 
collection  was  catholic  and  comprehensive,  embracing 
specimens  of  the  great  engravers  of  the  old  German, 
Dutch,  French,  Italian  and  English  schools.  For  the 
ancient  school  of  Albert  Durer,  and  his  followers,  he 
had  a  liking,  which,  taken  in  connection  with  his  fond 
ness  for  the  old  Emblem  designers,  showed  an  advanced 
taste  in  the  appreciation  of  the  profounder  elements 
of  art.  He  appeared  interested  in  every  form  of  deco 
ration  proceeding  from  the  burin,  from  the  simply 
pretty  and  agreeable  of  Cipriani  redeemed  from  insi 
pidity  by  the  workmanship  of  Bartolozzi,  through  the 
sensuous  French  school  of  Picart,  to  the  devotional 
themes  and  lofty  serenity  of  the  great  Masters.  His 
library  contained  rare  materials  for  the  study  of  the 
art  of  engraving,  and  here  his  passion  for  illustration 
appeared  peculiarly  appropriate. 

There  were  doubtless  many  interesting  incidents 
relating  to  the  purchase  of  the  curious  books  which 
made  up  Mr.  Allan's  collection.  These  old  volumes, 
treasured  by  their  owners  from  generation  to  gene 
ration,  might  disclose  much  that  would  be  worthy  of 
reflection,  could  they  tell  of  their  various  fortunes,  as 
they  passed  from  library  to  library,  till  the  vicissitudes 
of  men  and  families  opened  a  way  for  them  across  the 
Atlantic.  On  some  of  them  the  record  was  written 
in  the  autographs  of  former  distinguished  persons. 
One  we  noticed  bore  the  signature  of  Dean  Swift. 
Numerous  peculiarities  are  mentioned  in  the  catalogue. 


MEMORIAL  OF  JOHN   ALLAN.  31 

Then  there  were  the  lucky  chances  in  obtaining  the 
eagerly  sought  for  treasure. 

The  story  of  the  purchase  of  one  of  the  rarest  volumes 
of  the  collection  is,  perhaps,  worth  preserving.  A 
genuine  Scotchman,  addicted  of  course  to  devotion  to 
the  memory  of  Burns,  Mr.  Allan  had  long  desired  to 
become  the  possessor  of  the  Kilmarnock,  the  first 
edition  of  the  poet's  writings.  Though  seldom  to  be 
met  with,  a  copy  occasionally  turned  up  in  Scotland, 
and  an  order  was  sent  to  a  well  known  bookseller  of 
Edinburgh,  to  pay  as  much  as  five  guineas  for  one, 
which  was  considered  a  good  price.  The  bookseller 
wrote  in  reply,  that  he  had  a  copy  at  eight  guineas  ; 
Mr.  Allan  rose  to  this,  but  before  his  order  reached  the 
dealer  the  book  was  sold.  It  happened  after  this,  that 
a  friend  of  Mr.  Allan,  from  Scotland,  an  architect  arid 
bridge  builder,  visited  him  in  his  house  in  New  York, 
and,  on  taking  his  leave,  asked  "  if  he  could  do  any 
thing  for  him  at  home."  "  Get  me,  if  you  can,  the 
Kilmarnock  edition  of  Burns,"  was  Mr.  Allan's  reply, 
and  his  friend  was  duly  instructed  as  to  its  scarcity  and 
value,  and  the  price  he  might  have  to  pay.  On  his 
return,  he  was  engaged,  as  usual,  in  his  engineering 
occupations  in  the  country,  when  one  of  hin  workmen, 
too  fond  of  "  Scotch  drink,"  came  to  him  desiring 
to  receive  his  wages  for  a  broken  week  to  celebrate 
a  holiday.  Knowing  the  propensities  of  the  man  the 
money  was  withheld  with  the  expectation  of  retaining 
him  at  his  work;  but  the  next  day,  and  for  several 
days  after,  the  man  was  missing.  Ou  making  his  ap- 


32          MEMORIAL  OF  JOHN  ALLAN. 

pearance  again,  lie  was  questioned  as  to  his  absence  • 
"  he  had  been  off,"  he  said,  ".some  distance."  "  But 
how  could  you  go  without  the  money?"  "  I  raised  it 
by  pledging  some  books  at  the  pawnbroker's  on  which 
I  received  ten  shillings."  "  What  books  had  you  ?"  he 
was  asked,  with  some  incredulity.  "  Oh !  a  copy  of 
Burns,  among  others.  Every  Scotchman,  you  know, 
has  Burns."  "  What  sort  of  a  copy  was  it  ?" — recol 
lection  of  his  friend  across  the  Atlantic  beginning  to 
glimmer  in  the  mind  of  the  inquirer.  "  The  old  Kil- 
marnock  edition,"  was  the  reply,  and  the  recollection 
was  established.  "  Now,"  said  the  employer,  adroitly 
managing  the  subject  so  as  not  to  excite  expectation  or 
alarm,  "  suppose  I  should  relieve  you  of  this  business, 
what  do  you  want  for  your  pawnbroker's  ticket?"  "  I 
will  take  a  guinea."  After  some  haggling  as  to  who 
should  in  that  case  pay  the  pawnbroker  his  ten  shil 
lings,  which  resulted,  we  believe,  in  splitting  the  dif 
ference,  the  money  was  paid  and  the  book  secured. 
Thus  the  long  coveted  prize  came  to  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Allan,  in  America,  and  cost  its  possessor  nothing  but 
the  gratitude,  which,  to  be  sure,  is  something  ecstatic, 
of  a  delighted  bibliomaniac. 

It  was  not  often  that  Mr.  Allan  made  marginal  or 
other  written  comments  in  his  books  ;  but  in  one  in 
stance,  at  least,  he  appears  to  have  taken  particular 
pains  to  record  his  impressions.  His  regard  for  Burns 
called  forth  this  expression  of  feeling.  For  the  good 
fame  of  this  national  author  he  was  a  stickler,  repu 
diating  utterly  the  harsh  censoriousness  of  those  who 


MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN   ALLAN.  33 

would  obscure  the  virtues  of  a  man  of  genius  by 
studiously  setting  forth  his  occasional  aberrations.  He 
believed  with  Wordsworth,  who  published  a  manly 
expostulation  on  this  theme,*  that  there  was  something 
better  to  be  thought  of  over  the  grave  of  Burns,  than 
the  loves  and  revels  of  which  he  had  repented.  In  the 
goodly  row  of  illustrated  volumes  of  Burns,  which  oc 
cupied  his  shelves,  there  was  one  which  provoked  Mr. 
Allan's  scorn.  It  was  a  homily  and  a  very  ill  judged 
one,  full  of  spite  and  temper,  on  the  text  of  Burns's 
failings,  published  after  his  death,  arraigning  his  ad 
mirers  for  their  devotion  to  his  memory,  and  denoun 
cing  him  as  an  "  irreligious  profligate,"  "  a  profane 
blackguard,''  with  sundry  similar  comments  on  what 
the  writer  is  pleased  to  call  his  profanity,  cruelty, 
intemperance  and  so  forth.  Among  other  remarks, 
it  is  chronicled  of  the  poet,  "  he  was  an  enthusiastic 
admirer  of  Wallace.  He  used  to  travel  six  miles  on 
Sunday  to  visit  and  examine  the  retreats  and  fastnesses 
of  his  hero."  The  title  of  this  absurd  volume,  pub 
lished  in  Edinburgh  in  1811,  is  "Burnomania:  the 
Celebrity  of  Robert  Burns  considered,  in  a  discourse 
addressed  to  real  Christians  of  every  denomination." 
Mr.  Allan's  remarks,  written  in  front  of  the  book,  are 
as  follows  :  "  This  work  has  been  written  by  some 
intolerant,  religious,  bigoted  fanatic,  one  of  the  '  unco 

*  A  Letter  to  a  friend  of  Robert  Burns  :  occasioned  by  an 
intended  republication  of  the  account  of  the  life  of  Burns,  by 
Dr.  Currie  ;  and  of  the  selection  made  by  him  from  his  letters. 
By  William  Wordsworth.  London,  1816.  8vo.  pp.  3J. 


34  MEMORIAL  OF   JOHN   ALLAN. 

glide  and  rigidly  righteous,'  one  who  would  consign 
to  Hell  all  but  his  own  narrow  sect.  He  is  a  coward 
to  attack  the  dead  who  can  make  no  reply,  '  But  the 
meanest  rogue  may  burn  a  city,  or.  kill  a  hero,  whereas 
he  could  neither  build  the  one  nor  equal  the  other.' 
Burns  was  fifty  years  in  advance  of  the  age  in  which 
he  lived  ;  had  he  lived  when  the  writer  of  this  pens 
these  lines,  he  would  have  been  hailed  as  one  inspired. 
1842.  But  the  cowardly  assassin's  shot  falls  harmless. 
Burns's  fame  lives,  and  will  continue  to  increase  with 
increasing  splendour,  and  will  survive  the  whole  host 
of  religious  knaves  and  h}7pocrites  who  have  tried  to 
blast  his  fame. 

"  Priests'  hearts  rotten,  black  as  muck, 
"  Lay  stinking  vile  in  every  neuk  ! 
"  Omitted  in  most  editions. —  Tarn  O'Shanter." 
On  the  opposite  page,  Mr.  Allan  has  added,  "What 
would  he  say  of  Byron,  Moore,  and  a  host  of  others, 
who  have  sprung  up  since  Burns.     This  work,  I  have 
ascertained  since,  was  written  by  a  Reverend  Dr.  Pee 
bles,  of  Ayr — 1843.     Has  he  not  gone  down 
"  '  To  the  vile  dust  from  whence  he  sprung 
Unwept,  unhonored  and  unsung.' 
"  '  Priests  of  all  religions  are  the  same.' 
"  The  odium  theolos>icum,  or  theological  hatred,  is  pro 
verbial — revenge  reigns  with  the    greatest  force   in 
Priests.     This  fellow  Peebles  would  have  sent  Burns  to 
the  dungeon  and  stake,  if  he  had  the  power." 

Mr.  Allan,   as  we  have  intimated,  gave  directions 
that  his  library  and  collections  should  be  sold  after  his 


MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN   ALLAN.  35 

death.  In  furtherance  of  this  purpose,  during  the  last 
month  of  his  life,  he.had  been  engaged  with  Mr.  Sabin 
in  the  preparation  of  a  catalogue  of  his  books,  which 
he  lived  to  see  nearly  completed.  It  was  placed  in  the 
printers'  hands  in  January,  with  the  addition  of  a  care 
ful  list  of  the  Engravings  arranged  by  Mr.  Dexter, 
the  accomplished  print  dealer  of  Broadway — a  tribute 
of  regard  to  the  memory  of  his  old  acquaintance.  Vo 
luntary  assistance  of  this  kind  was  also  rendered  by 
others  of  Mr.  Allan's  friends.  When  the  catalogue 
was  sufficiently  forwarded,  the  sale  was  announced  by 
Messrs.  Bangs,  Merwin  &  Co.,  to  commence  on  the 
2d  of  May,  1864.  The  books  were  removed  to  their 
auction  rooms  on  Broadway,  and  were  on  exhibition 
for  a  fortnight,  during  which  they  attracted  a  large 
number  of  intelligent  inquirers,  prominent  among 
whom — a  new  feature  in  exhibitions  of  this  class — 
were  many  ladies,  who  carefully  inspected  the  works 
on  the  fine  arts.  When  the  sale  commenced  on  the 
appointed  day  Mr.  Merwin  the  auctioneer  announced 
his  intention  to  get  through  the  catalogue  of  the  books 
numbering  over  three  thousand  lots  the  first  week, 
which  required  him  to  sell  an  average  of  about  five 
hundred  lots  each  day,  or  about  an  hundred  lots  an 
hour,  the  time  occupied  being  between  four  in  the  af 
ternoon  and  half  past  nine  in  the  evening.  This  was 
accomplished  without  break  or  hesitation,  unless  we 
except  a  few  minutes  interruption  one  day  when  an 
evening  newspaper  was  brought  into  the  room  and  a 
passage  read  aloud  by  one  of  the  company  giving  an 
6 


36  MEMORIAL   OF  JOHN   ALLAN. 

account  of  a  preliminary  movement  of  Gen.  Grant's 
campaign  across  the  Rapidan,  and  on  another  similar 
occasion  the  sale  was  suspended  while  a  city  regi 
ment,  which  had  its  drill  room  above  stairs  was  leaving 
for  special  duty  in  the  harbor.  Eager  competition  was 
manifested  for  the  books  from  the  beginning,  the  aver 
age  of  prices  far  outrunning  any  previous  instance  of 
the  kind  in  the  country.  This  was  due  to  the  specialty 
of  the  collection  and  the  increased  demand  among 
wealthy  purchasers  for  rarities  of  the  class  oifered.  The 
following  statement  of  each  of  the  eleven  days  sale  of 
the  entire  collection  will  show  how  well  the  demand 
was  sustained  in  every  department : 

1st  day,  Lots        1—     557  books,     -      $3,789  39 
2d     "         "       558—1,110     do.  4,874  84 

3d     "         "    1,111—1,673     do.  6,083  43 

4th  "         "    1,674—2,237     do.  3,905  41 

5th  "         "    2,238—2,805     do.  4,072  75 

6th  "         "    2,806—3,321     do.  4,333  14 

7th   "         "    3,222—3,737   Autographs 

and  Engravings,  3,719  61 

8th  day,  lots   3,7384—212  Engravings 

and  Drawings,  2,225  35 

9th  day,   lots  4,2134—599  Coins,  Me 
dals  and  Minerals,  1,140  39 
10th  day,  lots  4,600 — 4,951  Minerals  and 

Snuff  Boxes,  870  13 

llth  day,  lots  4,952—5,278  Watches, 

China,  &c.,  2,674  82 

Exhibiting  a  total  of  $37,689.26,  assuredly  a  liberal 


MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN   ALLAN.  37 

amount  when  compared  with  the  prudent  estimate  of 
Mr.  Allan,  who  spoke  of  the  probable  auction  returns 
of  the  whole  at  about  twelve  thousand  dollars.  The 
sale  was  not  only  well  sustained  throughout,  but  many 
of  the  prices  paid  were  extraordinary  ;  nineteen  vo 
lumes  produced  over  a  hundred  dollars  each,  and  two 
items  were  run  up  to  over  a  thousand.  The  highest 
priced  book  was  the  best  illustrated  of  the  Knicker 
bocker  volumes,  of  which  we  have  spoken,  which  was 
knocked  down  to  the  agent,  Mr.  French,  at  twelve 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Next  to  this  was  the  mis 
sionary  Eliot's  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the  Indian 
language,  which  was  bought  by  Mr.  Bouton,  the  book 
seller,  for  eight  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars,  an 
enormous  increase  in  the  sum  paid  for  a  copy  at  the 
sale  of  Mr.  Corwin's  books,  in  1856.  It  then  brought 
two  hundred  and  ten  dollars,  a  price  which  was  much 
talked  of  in  those  days.  A  copy  of  Walton  and  Cotton's 
Angler,  the  two  volumes  of  Pickering's  edition,  ex 
tended  to  four  and  richly  illustrated,  brought  six  hun 
dred  dollars.  A  valuable  copy  of  Dibdin's  Bibliomania, 
in  two  volumes,  900  on  the  catalogue,  extended  and 
choicely  illustrated  with  portraits,  formerly  in  the  pos 
session  of  Mr.  Town,  and  noticed  byDibdin  himself  in 
one  of  his  books,  brought  three  hundred  and  sixty 
dollars  a  volume.  The  folio  volume  of  the  engraved 
portraits  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  produced  three  hun 
dred  and  seventy-five  dollars.  A  finely  illustrated 
Burns,  in  5  vols.  8vo,  No.  462  on  the  catalogue,  forty 
dollars  a  volume.  The  Kilmarnock  Burns,  the  story 


38  MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN   ALLAN. 

of  the  acquisition  of  which  we  have  related,  one  hun 
dred  and  six  dollars:  A  valuable  inlaid  illustrated 
copy  of  Byron's  English  Bards  and  Scotch  Reviewers, 
with  portraits  and  autographs,  was  bought  by  Mr. 
Farnum,  of  Providence,  R.  L,  for  one  hundred  and 
thirty  dollars.  Fifty-six  volumes  were  sold  for  fifty 
dollars  and  over. 

In  the  miscellaneous  department  of  the  sale,  there 
was  the  same  generous  competition.  A  fragment  of  a 
letter  written  by  Robert  Burns,  lot  No.  3,337,  brought 
forty-five  dollars ;  Benjamin  Franklin's  post  office  ac 
count,  a  very  neat  manuscript,  twenty  dollars  ;  while 
an  autograph  of  Gen.  Washington,  a  letter  in  reply  to 
the  address  of  the  corporation  of  New  York  conferring 
upon  him  the  freedom  of  the  city,  in  1785,  was  knocked 
down  at  the  extraordinary  sum  of  two  thousand  and 
fifty  dollars.  This  unprecedented  bid  was  explained  by 
the  circumstance  of  two  agents  competing  with  one 
another,  without  limitation  from  their  principals. 
That  famous  relic,  the  Burns'  toddy -ladle,  lot  5,053, 
was  bought  at  one  hundred  and  ten  dollars,  for  Mr.  J. 
V.  L.  Pruyn,  of  Albany. 

So  closed  the  sale  of  Mr.  Allan's  collections.  Many 
of  the  books,  engravings  and  other  rarities  which  he 
valued,  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  friends,  who  will 
think  more  highly  of  them  in  remembrance  of  the  kind 
and  cheerful  gentleman  by  whom  they  were  so  long 

preserved. 

E.  A.  D. 

20  Clinton  Place,  New  York, 
May,  1864. 


MEMORIAL   OF   JOHN'    ALLAN. 


39 


MR.  ALLAN'S  BOOK  PLATE. 


